Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit Hands-on

Share.

Push it to the limit!

By Chris Roper

Way back when at GDC, I had a chance to get an early look at Atari's latest DBZ title, Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit. I've had to keep my lips zipped since then, aside from a somewhat tell-all interview that you can find right here, but the veil has been lifted and I'm finally able to speak about the first PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 appearance of the franchise.

Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit will follow the exploits seen during the Z Chronicles, running from the beginning of the Saiyan Saga to the end of the Cell Saga. The tale will feature branching paths that spin off into the original elements, allowing for new segments in a story that stays true to the universe's canon.

The cool thing about the story presentation is that all of the cutscenes are shown via in-engine cinematics, which then blend immediately into gameplay. Gone are the days when the cutscenes and gameplay were separated by load times and visual differences, and instead the game looks much more cohesive.

Another bonus to this presentation style is that one of the game's new mechanics, Drama Pieces, helps tie the two together even while playing. Drama Pieces are selectable bonuses that you can choose from before each round that change the action of the battle. For example, you could choose a Kamehameha breaker which will cause a support character to run in and block the first Kamehameha that your opponent throws in the round. You can also select from throw saves, health boosts for when you're low and much more.

Each Drama Piece is attached to a specific character, so a secondary Dragon Ball character will come in for each event to give you some help. You can choose up to three Drama Pieces at the start of a fight, and each will be triggered automatically without your input when the time is right. Should you deem that you'd rather fight in a straight-up manner without others meddling in your affairs, you can choose to turn them off.

Speaking of the combat, the game is geared to be beneficial to both highly offensive and defensive fighters. Counters are in, as well as guard break attacks, allowing the more patient and defensive fighters a chance to turn the table on the button mashers out there.

The combat system is rather basic in setup, but the counter and guard break mechanics coupled with the other offensive abilities (like the Aura Spark mode that I'll get to in a second) give the game plenty of depth, as well. Basic moves are assigned to Light, Heavy and Block buttons, which are modified with directional presses on the left analog stick. The D-Pad will unleash your charged Ki attacks, letting you take on your opponent from a distance.

Charging your Ki gets you more than powerful ranged attacks, however. Once fully charged, you can enter Aura Spark mode where, like the Million Dollar Man, you'll become better, stronger, faster and more powerful than ever before. This is separate from form changes, so characters have numerous ways to enhance their abilities.

The objective to get the game to be both widely accessible while simultaneously deep seems to have paid off. Grabbing the controls with very little explanation beforehand, I was easily able to whip a couple opponents into shape with a flurry of attacks, while also tossing in a couple counters here and there. It does feel like there's plenty of tactics to master here, so longtime fans of the franchise should have a lot of meat to dig into.

Glow with the fire of a thousand suns!

As far as content goes, Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit will feature 21 playable characters and five unique stages. What's cool though is that the online play will be multi-regional, allowing you to fight against other DBZ fans from all over the globe. Leaderboards, rankings and all that good stuff will also exist on a multi-regional level, so you'll be able to see how you stand not just in your region but the whole world.

As has been the case for the franchise for a while, the series' voice actors will lend their talents to the title. The coolest news, however, is that you'll be able to optionally switch to the Japanese language track and listen to the original Japanese voice work, which is great new for purists.

Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit seems like a pretty fun title that DBZ fans will probably dig. The fighting mechanics are responsive and easy to learn, but look to offer a decent bit of depth. The game is slated to ship in the next couple months, so we'll be back with more on DBZ: Burst Limit soon.